fixed : easiest way to get a macOS screenshot into a Whatsapp message

Question :
In the latest versions of macOS any screenshot I make is no longer immediately saved to the Desktop, but instead I get a popup screen with a preview asking me what to do with the screenshot… but there if I click on the Export button there is no option to export to the Whatsapp.app and it’s impossible to drag&drop the preview into the Whatsapp.app either…

What is te easiest way to get the screenshot into Whatsapp ?

Answer :
The easiest option would have been to just drag&srop the Screenshot preview… but as you already mentioned, that’s impossible.
There are 2 options to get to your desired result as quickly and easily as possible :

Option 1 : using Preview.app
– on your Mac, open the Whatsapp.app and start a new message, no need to typ anything in it yet, just make sure it’s ready
– on your Mac, create a screenshot by pressing the [CMD]+[SHIFT]+[4] key combo
– when the screenshot preview window opens, click the Export button (square with an upward pointing arrow – top right, next to the Done button)
– in the pulldown menu that appears, click Preview
– now the Preview.app opens the screenshot, so in Preview.app click the document name Untitled
– in the document info pulldown menu, set Where: to Desktop
NOTE : you need to (temporarily) save the screenshot anywhere on your Mac before macOS lets you move it to Whatsapp
– then, click on the document name Untitled again, and a document icon will appear left-next to Untitled
– drag that document icon into the Whatsapp.app and the screenshot will appear in your (already open) message
– now, typ any additional text for your message and send it out
– then close the screenshot from the Preview.app
– when you get a window asking you to save screenshot Untitled, click the Delete button since you proably don’t need to keep it
NOTE : no need to save the screenshot on your Mac if you don’t have any use for it – even if you need it later-on, you can get it back by taking it out of your Whatsapp message

Option 2 : the old style
– on your Mac, open the Whatsapp.app and start a new message, no need to typ anything in it yet, just make sure it’s ready
– on your Mac, create a screenshot by pressing the [CMD]+[SHIFT]+[4] key combo
– when the screenshot preview window opens, click the Done button (top right)
– now, drag&drop the screenshot from your Desktop into the Whatsapp.app and the screenshot will appear in your (already open) message
NOTE : if you have a lot of windows open, it will be faster to long-click on the Finder icon bottom-left in the Dock, select New Finder Window from the pulldown menu, click Recent in the menu on the left ot the new Finder window that opens and find your latest screenshot on top and drag&drop it into Whatsapp.app from there
– now, typ any additional text for your message and send it out
– then drag&drop the screenshot to the Trash (or Bin) to delete it (either from the Desktop or from the Recents folder if that’s where you took it from)
NOTE : no need to save the screenshot on your Mac if you don’t have any use for it – even if you need it later-on, you can get it back by taking it out of your Whatsapp message

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

tip : which Apple devices will support …OS 26 ?

Question :
At the 2025 WWDC Apple introduced beta versions of the Apple OSes that will be released this fall as …OS 26.

Which devices will support these new versions of Apple OSes ?

Answer :
The latest info of the system requirements of the …OS 26 is as follows :

macOS 26 Tahoe

  • MacBook Pro with Apple silicon (2020) M1 and newer
  • MacBook Pro 16″ (2019)
  • MacBook Pro 13″ (2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 ports)
  • MacBook Air with Apple silicon (2020) M1 and newer
  • iMac (2021) M1 and newer
  • iMac 27″ (2020)
  • Mac mini (2020) M1 and newer
  • Mac Studio (2022) M1 and newer
  • Mac Pro (2019) and newer

iOS 26

  • iPhone 11 (2019) and newer : including all Pro/mini/Max/Plus-versions and iPhone 16e
  • iPhone SE 2nd gen (2020) and newer

iPadOS 26

  • iPad Pro 13″ with Apple silicon (2024) M4
  • iPad Pro 12.9″ 3rd gen (2018) and newer
  • iPad Pro 11″ 1st gen (2019) and newer
  • iPad Air with Apple silicon (2022) M1 and newer
  • iPad Air 3rd gen (2019) and newer
  • iPad 8th gen (2020) and newer
  • iPad mini 5th gen (2019) and newer

watchOS 26

  • AppleWatch Series 6 (2020) and newer
  • AppleWatch SE 2nd gen (2022)
  • AppleWatch Ultra (2022) and newer

tvOS 26

  • without Liquid Glass interface support : AppleTV HD (2015)
  • without Liquid Glass interface support : AppleTV 4K 1st gen (2017)
  • including Liquid Glass : AppleTV 4K 2nd gen (2021) and newer

not upgradeable to Apple …OS 26 :

  • MacBooks stuck at macOS 15 Sequoia : MacBook Air 13″ (2020 with Intel Core), MacBook Pro 13″ (2019 with Two Thunderbolt 3 ports & any 2018), MacBook Pro 15″ (2019 & 2018)
  • Macs stuck at macOS 15 Sequoia : Mac mini (2018), iMac Pro (2017) & iMac (2019)
  • iPhones stuck at iOS 18 : iPhone XR (2018) & XS / XS Max (2018)
  • iPads stuck at iPadOS 18 : iPad 7th gen (2019)
  • AppleWatches stuck at watchOS 12 : AppleWatch SE 1st gen (2020)
  • AppleWatches stuck at watchOS 10 : AppleWatch Series 4 (2018) & Series 5 (2019)

fixed : create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for your printer, scanner (or any application)

Question :
I tried your solution to create an alias on my Desktop (or in the Dock) for my printer and my scanner using customised aliases, and it works great… however, it does no longer work since I now have 2 Macs using the same iCloud account… the iCloud Syncing messes up the aliases ; the linking does not work properly any longer, and the custom icons are being replaced by the official Image Capture icon and the official Print Center icon…

Isn’t there any way to fix this ?

Answer :
Yes, there is !
If you want to recreate the old, but beloved Desktop Printer and Desktop Scanner in current-day macOS, do this :

NOTE : this works for any application that you want ot use with a custom icon without runnig the risk of iCloud Syncing messing up the custom icon

– open a new Finder window
– open the Applications folder
– typ ‘automator’ in the search field (top right)
– open the Automator app
– when asked ‘Choose a type for your document:’, choose an ‘Application’
– then click the blue ‘Choose’ button
– in the window that opens, typ ‘open’ in the search field
– from the shortened list, choose ‘Lauch Application’ and drag&drop it onto the gray area on the right (where it says “Drag actions or files here to build your workflow.”)
– now the ‘Launch Application’ action will appear and ‘Contacts’ will be listed as the default app to be opened
– click on ‘Contacts’ and choose ‘Image Capture’ (if you want to create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for a scanner) or choose ‘Other…’ and in the window that opens the Applications folder, first find the Utilities folder and inside the Utilities folder choose ‘Print Centre’ (if you want to create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for a printer)
– then, in the top menu bar click on ‘File’
– and in the pulldown menu that opens, choose ‘Save’
– in the window that opens, at ‘Save As:’ typ the name of your scanner (or printer), leave ‘File Format:’ at Application and change ‘Where:’ to Desktop
– then click the blue ‘Save’ button
– then on your Desktop, right-click on the robot icon that has your scanner (or printer) name beneath it
– from the pulldown menu that appears, choose ‘Get Info’
– then, drag&drop your custom scanner icon (or printer icon) onto the tiny icon in the left top cornet of the Get Info window
– then click the red button (top left) to close the Get Info window
– you will now see your Desktop Scanner Shortcut (or Desktop Printer Shortcut) on your Desktop
– click on it to see if it works correctly
– if you want, you can drag&drop the Desktop Scanner/Printer Shortcuts to the (left/main) applications side of the Dock and once the icons appear in the Dock, you can move the originals to your Applications folder
– or… if you want to save some extra space in the Dock, you can create a new folder, name it ‘Print & Scan’ (or something alike), drag&drop the Desktop Scanner/Printer Shortcuts into it, drag&drop the folder in the (right) documents/folders side of the Dock, right-click on the folder in the Dock and in the popup menu set ‘View content as’ to ‘Fan’ and then move the ‘Print & Scan’ folder to your Documents folder

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : use Window Tiling to quickly arrange windows on-screen

Question :
Is there a way to quickly arrange the active windows of various apps on my macOS screen ?


Answer :
Yes, since macOS 15 Sequoia you can do this with the Window tiling option.

The main ways to use Window Tiling are :
1. using the on-screen buttons
2. using keyboard shortcuts

-1-
Window Tiling buttons
The Window Tiling buttons appear in a popup-screen when you hover the cursor over the GREEN button that’s top-left in every window, be it a Finder-window, an App-window, a Settings-window or any other on-screen window.

NOTE : there’s an extra option (almost hidden) here : the “Move to iPad”-button that enables you to move the active window to your iPad if it’s in the direct vicinity of your Mac (and connect to the same iCloud account)


-2-
Keyboard shortcuts
By pressing various key-combos on your keyboard you can also move the active window(s) – the primary 1, 2 or even 3 windows – to the desired half or quarter of the screen …and still leave the top menu bar and The Dock visible.
These are the main keyboard shortcuts for Windows Tiling :

[fn]+[CTRL]+[F] = FILL the entire screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[C] = CENTER the active window in the middle of the screen
[fn]+[CTRL]+[R] = RESTORE to the previous window location(s)

These are the keyboard shortcuts for filling only one half of the screen :

[fn]+[CTLR]+[RIGHT] = fill the RIGHT half of the screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTLR]+[LEFT] = fill the LEFT half of the screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTLR]+[UP] = fill the UPPER half of the screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTLR]+[DOWN] = fill the LOWER half of the screen with the active window

These are the keyboard shortcuts for filling both halves of the screen :

[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[RIGHT] = fill the RIGHT half of the screen with the active window AND the left half with the secondary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[LEFT] = fill the LEFT half of the screen with the active window AND the right half with the secondary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[UP] = fill the UPPER half of the screen with the active window AND the lower half with the secondary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[DOWN] = fill the LOWER half of the screen with the active window AND the upper half with the secondary window

And these are the keyboard shortcuts for filling one half and two quarters of the screen :

[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[RIGHT] = fill the RIGHT half of the screen with the active window, the left top quarter with the secondary window AND the left bottom quarter with the tertiary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[LEFT] = fill the LEFT half of the screen with the active window, the right top quarter with the secondary window AND the right bottom quarter with the tertiary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[UP] = fill the UPPER half of the screen with the active window, the left bottom quarter with the secondary window AND the right bottom quarter with the tertiary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[DOWN] = fill the LOWER half of the screen with the active window, the left top quarter with the secondary window AND the right top quarter with the tertiary window

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : have direct access buttons to printers and scanner in macOS 15 Sequoia

|Question :
I have always had so-called ‘Desktop Printer‘ and ‘Desktop Scanner‘ buttons on my Mac, so I could access both my printer(s) and scanner(s) with just one click straight from the Desktop.

How do I do that in macOS 15 Sequoia ?

——————————————————-

Updated Answer :
There is a better solution for this problem in this newer post :

fixed : create a Custom Desktop Shortcut for your printer, scanner (or any application)

——————————————————-
Answer :
There are two options to create such ‘Desktop Printer / Scanner’ direct access buttons in macOS 15 Sequoia :

1- create new buttons : this can be done in the same way it could be done in macOS 14 Sonoma, as outlined in these previous posts :
fixed : create a Desktop Printer (one click pinter access) in macOS 14 Sonoma
fixed : create a Desktop Scanner (one click scanner access) in macOS 14 Sonoma

2- copy buttons over from your other Mac : if you already had Desktop Printer Scanner buttons on your previous Mac running at least macOS 14 Sonoma, you can them over in this way :
– have your new and your old Mac running side by side and connected to the same WiFi network
– on your old Mac, create 2 new empty folders on your Desktop
– right-click on the Desktop Printer icon on your Desktop and click on Get Info in the pop-up menu
– in the Get Info window that opens, click on the icon top left and press the [CMD]+[C] to copy the icon
– then, right-click on the first empty folder and click on Get Info in the pop-up menu
– in the Get Info window that opens, click on the icon top left and press the [CMD]+[V] to paste the icon
– then, also in the Get Info window, change the name of the folder to “Desktop Printer icon” (or something alike)
– then, take similar steps for the Desktop Scanner’s icon, and you will have a folder called “Desktop Scanner icon” (or something alike) also
– then, right-click on the “Desktop Printer icon” folder and choose AirDrop from the pop-up menu to AirDrop the folder to your new Mac
– then, repeat this to also AirDrop the “Desktop Scanner icon” folder, the “Desktop Printer” (alias) button and the “Desktop Scanner” (alias) button to your new Mac
– then, on your new Mac, open the Get Info windows of both the “Desktop Printer” and the “Desktop Printer icon” side by side and copy-paste the icon from the “Desktop Printer icon” to the “Desktop Printer” (that has lost it’s custom icon in the transfer to your new Mac)
– repeat this for the Desktop Scanner, by opening the Get Info windows of both the “Desktop scanner” and the Desktop Scanner icon” side by side and copying over the icon
– now, test both the “Desktop Printer” button and the “Desktop Scanner” icon ; the Desktop Printer button should open up the Print Center app and the Desktop Scanner button should open up the Image Capture app

That’s it !

enjoy 😉

fixed : CanoScan 5600F driver for macOS 15 Sequoia

Question :

I have a Canon CanoScan 5600F scanner that worked great with my previous Mac, but now I have upgraded to a new M4 Mac running macOS 15 Sequoia.

I’ve looked on the Canon website and searched the internet, but there is no macOS 15 Sequoia compatible driver available for this scanner.

Is there any way to use this CanoScan 5600F scanner in macOS 15 Sequoia ?

Answer :

Yes, there is …and it still works (nearly) the same way on Intel Macs and Apple silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) Macs running macOS 15 Sequoia :

  • goto Canon’s US website : https://www.usa.canon.com
  • choose Support > Scanners > Film & Negative Scanner > CanoScan 5600F
  • or use this link : https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/details/scanners/film-negative-scanner/canoscan-5600f/canoscan-5600f?subtab=downloads-drivers
  • there, click on the “Drivers & Downloads” tile (huge button)
  • then, choose “macOS Mojave v10.14” (even though your on macOS Sequoia v15 – don’t worry) as your operating system and “English” as your language
  • now, you will see 2 drivers listed :
    • > 5600F Scanner Driver Ver.14.11.5h (Mac) : msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
      • > ICA Driver Ver.4.1.4a (Mac) : misd-mac-ijscanner2-4_1_4-ea21_3.dmg
  • download both of them
    • note that despite the fact that both are versions from 2018, these will still work with macOS 15 Sequoia
  • goto your downloads folder
  • first, double-click on the file named msd_-mac_cs5600f-14_11_5h-ea8_2.dmg
  • this will mount the ScanGear_CanoScan 5600F_141105.pkg
  • again, click on that and version 14.11 of the ScanGear driver installer will open
  • now, follow the on-screen directions and the latest ScanGear driver will be installed
  • if you have an M1/M2/M3/M4 Mac, you will need to allow to allow the Rosetta Intel-simulator software too (probably only needed for the installer, the actual driver can probably do without)
  • then, double-click on the file named misd-mac-ijscanner2-4_1_4-ea21_3.dmg
  • this will mount the Canon IJScanner2_040104.pkg
  • again, click on that and version 4.1.4 the IJScanner2 driver installer will open
  • now, follow the on-screen directions and the latest IJScanner2 driver will be installed
  • when done, click on the Apple-logo top-left in the top menu bar
  • in the pulldown menu that appears, click on “System Settings”
  • in the window that opens, scroll down in the menu list on the left and click on “Printers & Scanners”
  • if the CanoScan 5600F is already listed in the Scanners chapter, click it
  • if not, click the “Add Printer, Scanner or Fax” button first to add the scanner
  • when done, click the CanoScan 5600F in the Scanners chapter
  • when the scanner details open on the right, click on the “Open Scanner”-button
  • now, the built-in macOS ImageCapture.app will open and it will immediately do a preview scan of whatever is in the scanner

NOTE : you might run into a small problem every once in a while ; when the automatic scanning preview starts, you might get an error saying “Scanner reported an error – Cannot communicate with scanner for these reasons: – Scanner is turned off. – USB cable is disconnected. Please check and try again.” If so, just flip the scanner’s ON/OFF-switch in OFF-position manually and then back into ON-position. Then click “OK” in the error message window, then click the “Overview” button in the ImageCapture window. That should help in making the scanner preview work again.

enjoy 😉

fixed : which Macs, iPads and iPhones can Apple Intelligence run on ?

Question :
As Apple is starting to roll out it’s own version of AI, entitled Apple Intelligence, the most important question seems to be :

Is my current Mac, iPad or iPhone able to run Apple Intelligence ?


Answer :
Apple has published the specs needed for Apple Intelligence :
– OS specs : iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4 or macOS 15.3 Sequoia or newer
– software specs : Siri needs to be turned ON
– CPU specs : A17 Pro, A18 or M1 or newer

translating the CPU specs into device specs :

iPhone : iPhone 16 / 16 Plus (2024) and newer
iPhone Pro : iPhone 15 Pro / 15 Pro Max (2023) and newer
iPhone SE : iPhone 16e (2025) and newer
iPad : -none- !! not even the iPad 11 (2025) !!
iPad mini : iPad mini 7th gen. (2024) and newer
iPad Air : iPad Air 5th gen. (2022) and newer
iPad Pro : iPad Pro 3rd gen. [11″] & 5th gen. [12.9″] (2021) and newer
MacBook : -none- !! the latest MacBooks from 2017 were Intel-based !!
MacBook Air : MacBook Air M1 (2020) and newer
MacBook Pro : MacBook Pro M1 (Late 2020) and newer
iMac : iMac M1 (2021) and newer
Mac mini : Mac mini M1 (2020) and newer
Mac Studio : Mac Studio M1 (2022) and newer
Mac Pro : Mac Pro M2 (2023) and newer

At the time of writing (March 2025) Apple Intelligence does come with the current OS versions in beta only… the general release date planned for April 2025 seems to be postponed.
If the official general release has only been postponed for certain regions (e.g. the EU) is not clear. According to Apple, the initial release will only include English, Chinese, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian, Japanese and Korean. Other languages will follow later on, but Dutch will probably not be one of the first to join.